


Petals In The Wind

by phantomthief_fee



Series: BATIM Drabbles [30]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: It's been a long time since Lacie has seen Bertram.
Relationships: Lacie Benton/Bertrum Piedmont
Series: BATIM Drabbles [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/910824
Kudos: 6





	Petals In The Wind

Another request from [@lovelykitten2017](https://tmblr.co/mDHsy-w7utLMuJciBe4nlow). 

* * *

It had been a long time since Lacie had escaped the studio. She had been one of the only people who had survived Joey’s attempt to turn everyone in the studio into monsters. And yet, in some ways, she felt she’d never escaped. 

Almost every night, she found herself back in the studio, haunted by Joey and the employees she’d watched die. And Bertram…She always remembered Bertram. Some nights she’d dream about happy days she’d had with him. She liked those dreams. But more often than not, she dreamed of her failure to save him. She dreamed of watching him die right in front of her.

She woke up screaming his name. She was lucky her neighbors were understanding. 

All that was in the past, though. She was an old woman of nearly 90 now, retired from a successful mechanic career. Her life was…ordinary now. Boring, one might say. She might have been satisfied with this, had it not been for the absence of Bertram. She still visited the park bench where he’d proposed to her every day, sitting under the tree and remembering better days. Remembering when he’d been there. 

Even after so long, her heart still ached with longing for him. She wished she could see him again. Just one more time. 

And, eventually, she did get her wish.

She’d been going about her usual routine when it had happened. She had come to the park bench as she always did, settling down. It was early spring, tiny blossoms beginning to unfurl on the branches above her. It was getting warmer, but there was still a chill in the air that required her to wear a sweater. 

“The flowers are comin’ in real nice this year,” Lacie mused to herself. “You’d like ‘em, Bertie.” She let out a chuckle. “I’m sure you’d say they matched my eyes or somethin’ and try to put one in my hair.”

“That certainly does sound like something I would do.”

Lacie inhaled sharply at the voice that had replied. It was a voice she hadn’t heard outside of her dreams in decades. 

To her shock and surprise, Bertram sat down beside her, looking exactly as he had the day Joey had killed him. She couldn’t help but stare, drinking in every detail. The grey around his temples that blended perfectly with his dark hair, his neatly kept mustache, his perfectly pressed suit, those ridiculously tiny glasses of his perched on his nose. It was all as she remembered. It took everything she had not to burst into tears. 

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” She said, her voice cracking a bit. 

She reached out to touch his face, expecting he would vanish as soon as she got close. But he didn’t. She cradled his face in her hands, rubbing a thumb over his cheek. His skin was weathered, yet still soft.

“I missed you so much,” she whispered. 

“I’ve missed you too,” Bertram replied, resting his hands on hers. “I’m sorry I’ve left you alone for so long.” His hands were so warm. She could feel the callouses on his palms and the pads of his fingers.

“Why’re you apologizing?” Lacie laughed. “It’s not your fault Joey killed you.” Her voice almost broke at that memory.

“Still.” Bertram smiled softly, removing her hands from his face and holding them between his own. “I feel rather awful that you’ve been on your own for so long.”

“It’s fine,” Lacie assured him. “What matters is that you’re here now.” 

She knew this wasn’t **really** him. Bertram was dead and gone. This was likely nothing more than a hallucination. She was probably dying right now. The thought didn’t scare her as much as she’d thought it would. At least then she wouldn’t be alone anymore.

“Lemme lean on you,” she said, pulling her hands out of his grasp. 

“Oh, of course.” Bertram nodded, shifting a bit so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. His body was firm and solid. 

They spent a moment or two in silence, watching the powder puff clouds float across the impossibly blue sky.

“I love you,” Lacie said. 

“I love you too.” Bertram pressed a kiss to her head, taking her hand in his once more. 

Lacie sighed in contentment, closing her eyes. 

.

The child who found her thought she was simply sleeping. Her expression was so serene and calm. It was only upon coming closer that he noticed her deathly pallor and how cold her skin was. 

She was buried in the plot she had picked out in a cemetery near her home, as specified in her will, right beside the empty coffin she had buried in place of her husband so many years ago.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out @lovelykitten2017's work on Tumblr. They've got some cool Bertram x Lacie content and cool art.


End file.
